


Adrift

by alizaporter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friendship, Light Angst, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, father Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24297355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alizaporter/pseuds/alizaporter
Summary: Admittedly, Nebula liked Earth. The past five years in which she came and went, she spent her spare time traveling across the planet. Each continent was so vastly different, unlike many other planets she had traveled in which everything was the same. She found herself in desolate deserts, sleepy towns, even on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Travel was much more expensive now, but the endless bank account of Tony Stark took her anywhere.Yet now, staring out at the lake, watching Tony’s memorial slowly float away, she did not know where to go next. The guardians offered to take her, either to travel with them or to drop her at another planet. Her purpose had always been to do Thanos’ bidding. After that, her purpose was to kill him. Now, she could do neither. However, a garden variety of Avengers and heroes alike allowed her to stay. For now, she would.
Relationships: Nebula & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	Adrift

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in May 2019, after I had seen Endgame. Now that I have an a03 account, I've been posting old fics in my drafts. Enjoy!

Admittedly, Nebula liked Earth. The past five years in which she came and went, she spent her spare time traveling across the planet. Each continent was so vastly different, unlike many other planets she had traveled in which everything was the same. She found herself in desolate deserts, sleepy towns, even on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Travel was much more expensive now, but the endless bank account of Tony Stark took her anywhere.  
Yet now, staring out at the lake, watching Tony’s memorial slowly float away, she did not know where to go next. The guardians offered to take her, either to travel with them or to drop her at another planet. Her purpose had always been to do Thanos’ bidding. After that, her purpose was to kill him. Now, she could do neither. However, a garden variety of Avengers and heroes alike allowed her to stay. For now, she would.

\---

In the days between arriving on earth and finding Thanos, Nebula thought Tony would forget her. Yet late in the night, sleepless in her borrowed room, Stark would come knocking. At first, it was for her opinion.  
“Hey, I’m making modifications to this. What do you think?”  
It seemed to be a prototype for a suit, yet unlike his own. Six long appendages extracted from it, and it came with a large supply of protective measures and assistance. When the image was blown into color, the new prototype seen in person, she realized where she recognized it. One of the vanished, one of Stark’s crew, wore this suit. The child, she remembered. His name did not come to her, and she did not ask.  
“What are the new modifications?”  
Stark hit a button on his hologram. The pieces of the suit flew off the stand, flying towards the corner of the room. Nebula saw a figure, a mannequin of sorts. A human form, the same size as the one designed to wear the suit. The metal evenly fit the figure. Tony hit another button.   
The mannequin promptly exploded into dust, leaving the suit hollow, yet intact. Nebula watched as the dust crumbled to the ground, white and ashy. Tony’s eyes followed as well, fixtated. In his next words, his voice shook.  
“Well. I’m working with what I have. The Wakandans allowed me Vibranium for this project. I normally wouldn’t consider developing a suit with it, but-”  
Hands on the table, his voice low and hollow as he inhaled and exhaled for several pregnant pauses.  
“I also salvaged some parts from your ship. Very strong material, the molecular structure is nothing like I’ve ever seen. You wouldn’t happen to know-”  
“No.” Nebula replied evenly. She asked no more questions. Stark liked that about her. She was a silent presence. Not like Steve, fighting his case. Not like Bruce, trying to make things perfect. Not like Thor, who hardly spoke but radiated deeper emotion than any of the Avengers combined. Nebula was very similar to Nat, yet the latter was too busy to stand and watch him work. In the beginning, the suit was all Tony worked on.

\---

After Thanos had been killed, after Tony had retreated into the woods, Nebula was the only one who visited. She could not drive, but Stark’s cars could drive themselves. She would sit in the backseat of these strange machines as they zoomed down the highway, uninterrupted by the former bustle of traffic years prior. This is where Nebula met Morgan.  
A beautiful child, full of life and curiosity. The toddler would run towards her upon arrival, tripping over her small legs to wrap her arms around Nebula. The girl asked many questions, ones that would normally bother Nebula, but seemed innocent from the voice of a Stark child.  
“Why is your skin blue?”  
“Why does your voice sound so strange?”  
“Why are you so cold?”  
Nebula never knew how to respond, yet Morgan never seemed to care. The little girl would lean in close, her mouth opening in a toothy childish grin.  
“It’s okay that you look different. It makes you special!”  
Morgan Stark was the first living being to ever give Nebula a genuine compliment. 

\---

In the evenings, after Morgan went to bed and Pepper retreated away with a book, Nebula sat in the garage with Stark. It was a far cry from the compound, but it was still filled with parts and machines. Here, Tony would switch between tasks; Pepper’s suit, The boy spider’s suit, and Nebula. Nebula would sit, parts of her body bleeding wires and tech. Stark would tinker with the parts, attempting to make things just a little easier, just a little less painful. Slowly but surely, metal skin was replaced with synthetic flesh. He could not remove all of the parts inside her, but he replaced them with high quality ones. Every day, her joints and mind would hurt just a little bit less.  
Nebula learned a lot from Stark, and she found herself helping with the Iron Spider more than anything. She and Stark installed endless protocols, some innocent, some deadly, some meant to protect the user from disintegrating into dust. Or at least, they hoped. Tony would tell her stories of the Spiderling. She watched footage from his suit’s cameras. Peter Parker was a sweet, impressionable child. With enough time, she felt as if she knew him as well as Stark did.  
In the evenings, Nebula would leave. The Stark car drove her wherever she wished, Yet she knew what Tony would do after she left his home. One day, after Stark had left the garage to check on Morgan, she found a database of voice recordings.  
“Hey Peter, it’s Tony. I’ve added three new protocols to your suit today. They should help you if you ever get into a situation where- never mind. It seems crazy anyway.”

“Hey kid, me again. I just want you to know- Morgan said her first word yesterday. It was, “dad”. Can you believe that? Heartwarming. Anyway, it’s me. Tony Stark. Iron Man. Signing out. See you later, kid.”  
It was a word Nebula had learned living on Earth. A “diary”, but without paper. For months and months, it went on and on. When Tony finally came back to the compound, with his time travel plans, the Avengers were surprised. Nebula wasn’t. She had been visiting Tony for five years. They thought he had given up. If they had heard the man tell bedtime stories about “Spider-Man” to his daughter, they never would have doubted him.


End file.
